Implementation

1. Tutoring

Supported artists and companies benefit from guidance and consulting according to their artistic needs and desires. To properly fulfill this job, the whole ECH’s team is ready to go into action :
– the ECH’s artistic direction
– a steering committee gathering once a year the ECH’s partners
– the sponsors : the state, the region, Valenciennes Métropole, the city of Valenciennes
– the ECH’s institutional partners : ONDA, Institut Français, the European Festival Association – EFA
– the phénix’ team
– co-producers
– economic assessment by the Caisse des Dépôts

The ECH’s artistic direction and the steering committee, together with the artists, regularly examine the supported projects so as to define how and what may help them develop their projects : space, time, staff, digital, financial or technical needs.

Two mentoring groups gather various skills :
– A board of experts in dramaturgical issues helping the artists strengthen their artistic work
– A board of production / distribution gathering international program coordinators. Their opinion enlightens the artists about the means to produce and distribute their projects. It is about enabling them to move forward to the next step and cross potential invisible borders. The objective is to have them join production and distribution networks they would never have joined otherwise.

In addition, the artists are given the opportunity to present their work-in-progress to potential co-producers and programmers from France and abroad. It also enables the artistic projects to evolve artistically and economically.

Lastly, symposiums gathering associate artists and artists from the Campus are held once a year. They enable various actors to casually exchange about the artistic projects : philosophers, researchers, playwrights, leading figures in the international cultural network.

2. Production – residency

The ECH is a centre for artistic creation. From the birth of a project to the show’s premiere, the phénix’s team supports the ECH’s projects throughout their lives. The selected strategy is the one guiding and supporting the artistic teams with a view toward strengthening the companies’ operating system (human, economical, administrative management). It is about lowering and sharing the risks inherent in production.
Sometimes, we might as well play the role of executive producer when a project is lacking structural production (Andromaque, les Héritiers by Damien Chardonnet). Yet as far as young artists are concerned, we’d rather choose to entrust experienced executive production companies : Yuval Rozman and Mehdi Georges Lahlou are produced by Latitudes Prod, Damien Chardonnet’s project is produced by Claire Dupont from Prémisses.

3. Events

Two annual events (the Cabaret of curiosities and the NEXT festival) are organised and co-organised by le phénix. They represent opportunities to show the artistic projects produced by the ECH. They already have a major international reputation. Specific efforts are made to welcome international programmers in the best conditions (mobility grant, English surtitling, bilingual publications, artists salon gathering artists and programmers).

5. Promoting exportation

Last step in promoting and distributing the artists’ work : developing subsidies to support art dissemination. Paid to the companies by the ECH, they’re intended to partly cover international transportation costs and reduce barriers to dissemination. Such subsidies are inspired by both international (Pro Helvetia, Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec) and domestic examples (the Institut Français). French programmes (programme Circles by the Institut Français, ONDA) are additional subsidies. When the latter is requested, so may be the ECH’s support.